Gates says society must decide how to tax AI and reserve work for people

Gates said society would need to decide how to tax AI or robot use and which jobs to preserve for people.[1] He said he was watching the pace of improvement in AI models and the incentives to use AI rather than human labor.[1] He described AI as more consequential than earlier technologies, and said reserving some work for people might sound bizarre now but would eventually become a point society reached.[1]

Gates argued that human-reserved work could be justified when automation displaces many people who cannot readily change careers.[3] He illustrated the difficulty with a longtime construction worker being expected to switch into elder care.[3] He also said some jobs should remain human-performed for reasons beyond employment, such as delivering devastating medical news.[3] Gates described the boundary as something that could change over time: some jobs might be reserved now, with AI introduced gradually over years or decades.[3]

Gates argued that a robot tax could slow the shift away from human labor while raising funds for retraining and a stronger safety net.[3] TechCrunch noted that such proposals could reduce the profits of major AI labs.[3] But the practical design remains unsettled: it is unclear who would set rules for robot taxes or human-reserved work, or what those rules would contain.[3] For employers evaluating automation, the proposal therefore raises questions about transition costs and policy design, not a settled tax or a defined list of protected jobs.[3]

Gates identified malicious AI use, particularly in cyberattacks, as the most immediate danger.[1] In an essay, he warned that governments were not prepared for AI’s impact and said the technology would affect national security, employment, education and taxation.[2] He also warned that AI could help some people learn more while causing others to learn less, and cited a preliminary survey associating heavier AI use with less critical thinking, especially among young people.[2] Gates said some U.S.-China cooperation would be needed for a global effort to address AI.[2]